Blakeman, Hochul tout public safety bona fides at separate events

With just over a week before the election, the two gubernatorial candidates hit the stump on Monday touting public safety achievements, with Gov. Kathy Hochul announcing reductions in crime on the Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North and Staten Island Railway and Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, her GOP opponent, getting the endorsement of several law enforcement unions.

The announcements came eight days before the Nov. 3 gubernatorial election in which Hochul, the Democratic incumbent, is seeking a second full term. A Quinnipiac University poll earlier this month found Hochul leading Blakeman by 14 points.

On Monday, Hochul announced that major felonies on the LIRR, Metro-North and Staten Island Railway, all of which are patrolled by MTA police, dropped by a combined 20.1% during the first eight months of 2026, compared with the same period in 2025. On the LIRR alone, officials said, crime was down 17.6%.

Combined figures for all three systems include a 50% drop in burglaries, a more than 18% dip in grand larcenies, a nearly 43% decline in auto grand larcenies in station parking lots and an almost 40% decrease in robberies, the governor's office said. There have been no reported rapes on the three systems since 2023, Hochul said.

Felony crime on the three railway systems, officials said, is at its lowest point in four years, with 2026 on track for a second consecutive year of double-digit decreases in major transit crime.

Meanwhile, data shows there were 107 crimes committed against LIRR and Metro-North employees, along with MTA police officers, between January and August — the lowest number since 2023 and down almost 11% compared with the 120 such crimes reported in the first eight months of 2025.

"Thanks to smart investments in the MTA PD, our commuter railroads have seen historic reductions in crime this year," Hochul said in a statement. "With growing ridership, the LIRR and Metro-North are engines of the entire state’s economy, and it is essential that the hundreds of thousands of riders who rely on rail service to get around travel safely."

The figures did not include the New York City subway system.

Earlier this month, the NYPD reported that major crime on the subways is up 0.9% compared with 2025, with felony assaults and nonviolent grand larcenies the leading drivers of transit crime.

Despite the new data, Blakeman, who rode the LIRR from Inwood to Manhattan last week while arguing the system was unsafe, contends that any drop in crime was linked to supposedly low transit ridership numbers.

"Nobody's riding public transportation," Blakeman, who rode the LIRR and subway last week, said during a campaign event in Williston Park. "It's too expensive. It's not clean and it's not safe. I will make it clean, safe, and we will make sure that people get back into public transportation."

The LIRR carried nearly 82 million passengers last year, an 8% increase over 2024 and the most since 2019, Newsday previously reported.

Outside the Nassau police Third Precinct on Monday, Blakeman, along with running mate Sheriff Todd Hood from Madison County, announced the endorsement of Nassau's Police Benevolent Association, Detectives Association, Superior Officers Association and Sheriff’s Correction Officers Benevolent Association, along with that of law enforcement unions from Buffalo, Syracuse and the nonprofit United Coalition of Public Safety.

"Kathy Hochul has made it dangerous to live in our communities," said Blakeman, who also criticized Adrienne Adams, the governor's running mate, and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, while praising NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch.

Nassau PBA president Tommy Shevlin urged voters to cross party lines to elect Blakeman, who said he's hired nearly 900 police officers during his five years as county executive.

"It's time to get back to common sense," Shevlin said. "It's time to save our state before we all have to move to Florida. Bruce Blakeman can save our state. He will make this the safest state in the country."

Hochul, countering with her own law enforcement endorsement, announced Monday that she was endorsed by the New York State Police Benevolent Association, State Park Police, State Environmental Conservation Police and State Forest Rangers.

New York State PBA president Chris Rola said Hochul had "demonstrated her commitment to public safety through her actions," including nearly $4 billion in public safety initiatives and a new 20-year pension plan for members in Tiers 5 and 6.